A 16-year-old boy was the first victim of the Brazilian serial killer who's confessed to murdering at least 39 people there.

The killer — Tiago Henrique Gomes da Rocha, 26 — says he picked up Diego Martin Mendes in 2011 at a bus terminal in Goiania, southern Brazil, and took him to nearby woods to have sex with him, G1 news reported.

It was during the encounter in 2011 that Rocha was first struck with the 'rage' that he says makes him kill — and committed his first murder.

First victim: Tiago Rocha (left) told police that the first of his 39 murders was 16-year-old Diego Martin Mendes (right), whom he met for sex in a bus terminal

'I have no doubts his intention from the beginning was to kill,' said lead investigator Douglas Pedrosa, of the Goias Civil Police, to G1.

Diego had left his parents' house earlier that day to sign up for a military school. A few hours later, he called his mother from the bus terminal and said he was heading home. That was the last time he was heard from alive.

The parents thought Diego may have met someone online, as the boy was always chatting on different social networks.

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He was considered missing until this week, when Rocha confessed the 16-year-old had been his first victim.

Rocha's next two victims were both men he thought to be gay.

The next few were prostitutes and homeless people.

'Nobody would miss them,' Rocha told police of his targets,according to the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.

Tiago Rocha, 26, has confessed to killing 39 people, making him one of the world's most prolific killers

Rocha always followed a pattern: prostitutes were stabbed, homeless men were shot, and gays were choked.

Young women — the victims he came to savor killing the most — he would shoot in the chest.

The 39 murders he's confessed to make Rocha one of the most prolific killers in the world.

He was arrested Tuesday after being pulled over in the city of Goiania, when local police found he was facing trial for stealing a motorcycle's license plate in January.

He was stopped while riding with fake plates on the motorcycle he often used during the murders, when he would drive by and attack random victims before speeding away.

A day later, he confessed to killing 39 people — 15 young women as well as prostitutes and random people he thought to be gay or homeless.

In a sick twist, it has been revealed that Rocha was in a romantic relationship with a pretty church girl with long hair, her appearance similar to that of his victims, Folha reported.

This is the moment confessed killer Tiago Rocha, 26, described his 20th murder to police

Lilian Mesquita, 28, was the 20th victim Rocha confessed to killing

Cops say he may have been engaged to the young woman, who would often take him to her Assembly of God church.

Rocha began killing in 2011, at first targeting homeless people, gays and prostitutes. His first victim was a man, the first of 17 males he would eventually kill.

This year, he turned his attention to young women.

His first young female victim was 14-year-old Bárbara Costa, who had been waiting for her grandmother in a public square on January 18 when a man riding a motorcycle shot her in the chest and left without taking anything.

The next day, 23-year-old Beatriz Moura was shot also by a man in a motorcycle. He once again didn't take anything.

In all, he killed 15 women in seven months in Goiania, a city of 1.3 million people located some 200 miles from the country's capital of Brasilia. They were ages 14 to 29.

Even as late as Sunday, he had once again tried to kill a woman — but the attempt was foiled when his gun didn't go off, and he ran away.

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While speaking to police, he would refer to his victims only as numbers.

'All the police officers who followed the interrogation were shocked by his coldness, not only with his modus operandi but also in the way he formulated his ideas,' interrogator Douglas Pedrosa, of the Goias Civil Police, told G1 news. 'He identified each victim by a number--number 30, number 12.'

Pedrosa says the killer remembers details of each of his dozens of crimes.

'After admitting to a crime, he would stay there for some five minutes in a catatonic state,' Pedroso told G1.

During those times, the killer told police, he would be thinking about the crime — reliving it, even. At times, he would have a smile on his face.

'After, he would give details about the place and what he was feeling,' Pedrosa told G1. 'He didn't have details of the faces, he had details of the violence.'

Cops say he was 'cold' during questioning and was visibly bothered by female police staff.

When women walked in he 'stopped talking, said he was bothered and that he wasn't going to talk anymore,' Pedrosa told G1.

Chilling pictures of the objects seized during the arrest of Rocha on Tuesday - officers initially targeted him when they discovered he was facing trial for stealing a number plate on a motorbike

Before pulling the trigger, he would always shout 'robbery', but then flee the scene without taking anything

Two of Rocha's victims. He confessed to killing 15 young women in the city of Goiania, where he lived

Rocha's lawyer, Thiago Vidal, told Folha that he counseled the killer of his right to remain silent.

But Rocha pounded his fists on the interrogation table and insisted: 'No, I will talk.'

'I have to get this from inside me,' he said of the murders.

Vidal at first said Rocha had confessed on Monday under pressure from police. Then on Wednesday, he was interrogated once again — and the defense lawyer left the room 'perplexed.'

'At first I thought the police may have coerced him into confessing to a crime he didn't commit, but he narrated with richness of detail each of the deaths,' the lawyer told Folha.

While Rocha talked, the lawyer read through the police report detailing the confession from two days earlier. The killer made no mistakes in retelling his macabre story .

'He didn't hesitate,' Vidal told Folha. 'Everything fit.'

The lawyer said Rocha attempted suicide with shards from a light bulb on Thursday. He is now on suicide watch in jail and remains handcuffed.

He is expected to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Rocha was visited by his mother, an aunt and four other relatives on Friday after he asked for them.

A hammer, knives and handcuffs were some of the items seized by the special police task force

Cops walk Rocha into the Goias Civil Police station after his arrest

If Rocha ends up being convicted of the crimes he confessed to, he will gain a place in the record books as one of the world's most prolific serial killers

Rocha's family described him to Folha as a quiet young man with few friends. He rarely went out to social events at night.

He lived with his mother and a brother and never met his dad. He was molested by a neighbor when he was 11.

Rocha graduated high school and worked for a couple of years in a private security firm. Police say he stole a .38-caliber gun from this job and used it in the murders.

For the last four months, he's worked a night security shift in a large hospital in Goiania.

Three victims: a special police task force arrested Rocha on Tuesday after the string of unexplained murders caused panic among the local population

Police say the assassin, who lived with his mother in the Goias state capital, has also confessed to killing transvestites and several homeless people, as well as women, two of whom are pictured here

Families and friends of the women murdered this year, including these two victims, staged a series of demonstrations to put pressure on the police and local government

Rocha say he killed because of the 'rage he felt against everything', which only subsided when he murdered.

He was arrested on Tuesday by a special police task force set up to catch the serial killer after the string of unexplained murders caused panic among the local population.

Families and friends of the women murdered this year staged a series of demonstrations to put pressure on the police and local government to solve the crime.

They wore white and carried photos of the victims.

Before pulling the trigger, Rocha would always shout 'robbery' — but then flee the scene without taking anything.

Officers swooped on Rocha when they discovered he was facing trial for stealing the number plate on a motorbike at a supermarket in Goiania in January.

Days later he was was stopped by police riding a motorbike with a fake plate.

The murder weapon, a.38 revolver, was seized from the home he shared with his mother during a search along with a motorbike and stolen plates.

Local reports said he told police before being taken to jail that he killed his victims to alleviate feelings of anxiety.

Rocha shot his dead from a motorbike and shouted 'robbery' before pulling the trigger

The list of the 15 most prolific modern serial killers is topped by Colombian Luis Garavito, a child murderer and rapist known as 'La Bestia' or 'The Beast.' He is thought to have killed more than 400 people, mostly street children. His proven victim count is 138.

Pedro Rodrigues Filho, Brazil's most prolific killer, claimed to have killed more than 100 victims, 47 of them inmates. He was convicted of killing 71 people.

He killed his first two victims at the age of 14 and murdered his father and ate a piece of his heart.